Is Cyber Security Always On Your Mind?

If so, you are not alone. Cyber security ranks among the top 5 healthcare issues to watch in 2016.

Cyber Security Tops The 2016 Watch List

According to an annual review by Healthcare Finance, the increase in personal connectivity to healthcare through a myriad of devices will serve both as a boost in patient engagement, but also as a source for major concern due to cyber security.

Nearly 40 percent of consumers said they’d leave a health system, or hesitate to use one, that had been hacked. Why? Connected medical devices can be vulnerable, making vulnerable those that are connected to them. More than 50 percent of those surveyed said they’d avoid, or at least hesitate to use one, if the health system providing it had been breached.

To add fuel to the fire, according to Modern Medicine Network, despite healthcare organizations’ best attempts at maintaining patient confidentiality, the industry regularly accounts for a staggering number of data breaches. According to the latest Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC)report, more than 120 million patient records were compromised in 2015 due to healthcare incidents alone.

Are these breaches due to inadequately secured infrastructure or poor identity access management? Or are there bigger picture problems including:

under-investment in critical systems,

not separating the issues of compliance and security concerns, and

an over reliance on internal expertise.

When these form in an unsecured environment, healthcare organizations are left without the means to accurately assess and defend against cyber attacks.

Shore Up Your Information Security With Strategy

What’s the best way for a healthcare organization to protect the patient data entrusted to it?

With a proactive Information Security strategy in place, organizations plan and execute processes for data security success. And when a breach occurs, as research indicates it is apt to, organizations with a strategy in place are prepared.

It’s tempting to assign Information Security to an IT department, but do they have the certifications, experience and skill to lead an Information Security program?

Compared to other industries, healthcare organizations don’t adequately invest in security leadership, nor do they have a vast talent pool from which to pull. An ISACA study from early 2015 found that 86% of organizations feel there’s a global shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals.